Armistice centenary service at Thorpe Market church

2018: St Margaret’s Church Thorpe Market will be holding a special remembrance service on Sunday November 11 marking, to the day, precisely one hundred years since the signing of the armistice that brought an end to the First World War.

In common with most rural villages, Thorpe Market lost several of its young men, in this case 14. Three are buried in the churchyard. Many of the names on the war memorials in the church had been present in Thorpe Market for centuries. Most of them have now disappeared, in some cases as a direct result of the Great War.

The service for Remembrance Sunday will take place at 10.30am on November 11. The church has so far managed to trace living relatives for 10 of the men who died, and it is hoped that many of them will be able to attend the service. It will be an excellent opportunity for ex-village residents to renew old acquaintances.

“This is work in progress” explained Margaret Hunter from the church. “We are preparing family trees, details of the homes they left behind and their military records, as well as their regimental music. If you are a relative, or have information about any of those who died – please do contact us. We are still seeking information about Cecil Burdett, he may have a Colby connection and the name Bates in his family. Also Hebert Keeler, who died aged 36, having also fought in the Boer War, and William Turner whose father came from Roughton.”